Q and A with Akin Babatunde on ‘Spunk,’ ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ & the new ‘Texas in Paris’

Akin Babatunde, an acting, directing and writing force in North Texas for decades, directed back-to-back productions of Ain’t Misbehavin’, which closed Sunday at Jubilee Theatre in Fort Worth and Spunk at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, which continues through May 4. We caught up with Babatunde for a Q and A on Spunk, the Harlem Renaissance and his new Off Broadway play.

What is the most important thing you learned about Spunk and Zora Neale Hurston in directing this show?

The amazing capacity she embodied to engage, enhance, explore folklore through her anthropological zeal which lead her to collecting all kinds of tales and interpreting them in her literature. In reflection two of her quotes that speak to me and supported me in directing this show is “learning without wisdom is a load of books on a donkey’s back” and “once you wake up thought in a man, you can never put it to sleep again”. These quotes awakened my desire to seek and go beyond the given and obvious choices especially in directing the portrayal of her characters.

What makes a person do what they do and act the way they act is never just because they are “mad, bad, weak, etc.” There is a thought that was planted that has led them to seeking or discarding the wisdom of their life. I learned that the wisdom of the character “Blues Speak Woman” may actually be Zora in persona taking us on the journey that will give us back our “spunk”.

What was the biggest challenge in directing it? Did the simplicity of the set design made it easier or harder to tell the tale? How so?

The biggest challenge was to avoid the trap of stereotypes that could be displayed due to the nature of the characters’ dialects. I wanted to embrace the human challenges of struggle to strength that leads to a better and possibly a more successful path. The integrity of the character portrayals was essential to me as was the common identification of the human experience in certain situations. Mr. Wolfe clearly stated in his forward notes in the script that “the rhythms of the dialect be played, instead of the dialect itself. A subtle but important distinction. The former will give you Zora, the latter, Amos and Andy.”

I respected and embraced his notes and the kabuki-like nature of the piece. When Jeffrey Schmidt (set designer) and I initially met to explore ideas we both wanted to avoid the obvious notion of a certain kind of environment, like a rundown shack, etc. There was an elegance yet folkloric aspect of the environment we wanted to explore. He created a large mural that would represent the three tales and I asked him to visit the work of African-American artist Romeare Bearden and Aaron Douglas to solidify or influence the design concept.

I also wanted to explore the “road less traveled” aspect of the set. Zora as an anthropologist and collector of folklore traveled miles to gain these experiences in unexplored/ untraveled environments. The notion of traveling the open road and finding tales and objects along the way was important to me because that is what Zora might have done. The set has without a doubt been a tremendous asset in the telling of these tales. It has certainly provided an ample creative nurturing ground because its bare essentials could lead to surprise discoveries. Terry Martin, when he and I met at Barnes and Noble to share my concept actually suggested the change of seating environment for this show to one of a thrust stage and it has serviced us well.

Spunk has dark, sad and hopeful moments. It’s almost as if it goes from a relationship that can’t be fixed in the first story to one which holds the promise of renewal even after betrayal. To what extent does that provide an emotional arc to the show?

In each of these tales the emotional arc I sought to investigate was that of tragedy to triumph to transformation. It is indeed the arc that Zora experienced in her lifetime and is often a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome odds. Zora was bodacious, triumphant, died forgotten and thanks to writer Alice Walker, her legacy has been renewed.

Any chance you might slow down the talking in the second story? A lot of patrons have said they struggled to follow the men’s conversation.

Absolutely, yes. I consistently advised actors to move the text along and avoid traps of indulging in the idioms of the language. However, there is certainly a thin line between the cultural expression of the language, (which Zora was keen on), and clarity for the ear that may not be accustomed to those rhythms. I take full responsibility for that choice and have sought to aid the actors in finding a comfortable medium (somewhat slower delivery) that would promote clarity and still maintain the style aspect of that story.

You went straight from directing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Jubilee Theatre to Spunk at WaterTower Theatre. Both deal with the same period. In what way do they provide different perspectives of that time?

The Harlem renaissance was an amazing period in African American history which contributed to American culture. It was a creative flowering of the arts (music, literature, theater). Many of these artists were contemporaries and aware of each other. They often met in social gatherings like the brownstone in Harlem nicknamed the Dark Tower of A’lelia Walker (daughter of first black millionairess Madame CJ Walker). I became very familiar with this time period because I wrote a one man show entitled “Of Ebony Embers — Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance” which toured the country and abroad for more than a decade. This awareness of the time period supported me in directing Spunk and Ain’t Misbehavin’.

Zora was a very well-known literary figure during the king of strides “Fats Waller’s” reign in Harlem so they certainly could have met. Zora was an “in-your-face writer” whose work dealt with the sometimes harsh realities of the time. Fats was a colorful, flamboyantly comedic personality whose music had double meanings and sometimes provided a much needed escape of the times.

Can you update us on what is happening with Blind Lemon Blues, the show you directed, co-conceived and co-wrote? And can you tell us what it is about this time period and its music that speaks to you?

Alan Govenar and I have created a 50-minute version published by Dramatic Publishing that is ideal for college, middle and high school productions. Our Off-Broadway production at the York Theater received critical acclaim and I ended up winning an Audelco award for best direction of a musical beating out Susan Stroman (go figure). As a result of working on this show over the years I have come to appreciate and further explore the simple yet poignant message in the blues and other music of this genre. It has lead me to travel to Vienna to serve as director and musical director of “Black Pearl Sings’” European debut at The Vienna English Theater. It consistently speaks to me on a deeper level, mainly because it is part of my cultural background that I did not readily embrace.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Late spring Alan and I will return to the York Theater to workshop his new play Texas In Paris for a production scheduled for the 2014-2015 season. I am excited about returning to the York to direct Tony Award-winner Lillias White and Broadway veteran Reathel Bean. This piece deals with the unlikely meeting of an elderly cowboy folk singer and an elderly singer of negro spirituals who travel to Paris.

Here’s a song from Blind Lemon Blues:

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News, reviews, nuggets and tidbits from the local arts scene, including literature, theater, classical music, opera, dance and the visual arts.